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'We showed a lot of pride and that is all we can ask. We need to be a bit smarter at times and hopefully we can come up with the win.'

Tonga coach Jim Dymock was a relieved man at the final whistle but was not surprised by the gutsy Irish performance.

'Most of them have played in Super League,' said the former London Broncos favourite.

'They didn't surprise me at all. They came out and, to their credit, they gave it a go. It's lucky I've got no hair. I was up there praying at the end. I thought it was going to be the luck of the Irish but thankfully we came through and hopefully we can play better against Samoa.

'It was a tough game, especially to play 20 minutes with 12 men. Our discipline was a bit scratchy but we weren't used to some of the interpretations of the referee. Hopefully we can learn from that game.'